Rudolf Schuster

Rudolf Schuster (born 4 January 1934) is a Slovak politician, who served as the second president of Slovakia from 1999 to 2004. He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. In the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he sought re-election, Schuster was defeated.[1] He received only 7.4% of the vote, with three other candidates (more specifically Ivan Gašparovič, Vladimír Mečiar, and Eduard Kukan) receiving more than that. He was succeeded by Ivan Gašparovič.[2]

Rudolf Schuster
Schuster in 2011
2nd President of Slovakia
In office
15 June 1999 – 15 June 2004
Prime MinisterMikuláš Dzurinda
Preceded byMichal Kováč
Mikuláš Dzurinda (Acting)
Jozef Migaš (Acting)
Succeeded byIvan Gašparovič
Member of the National Council
In office
30 October 1998 – 15 June 1999
Mayor of Košice
In office
1994 – 15 June 1999
Speaker of the National Council
In office
30 November 1989 – 26 June 1990
Preceded byViliam Šalgovič
Succeeded byFrantišek Mikloško
Personal details
Born (1934-01-04) 4 January 1934
Košice, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Political partyIndependent (1999–present)
Other political
affiliations		Communist Party (1964–1990)
Party of Civic Understanding (1998–1999)
Spouse
Irena Schusterová-Trojáková
​
​
(m. 1961; died 2008)​
Signature

Life and career

Schuster was born in Košice. From 1964 to 1990, he was a member of the Communist Party of Slovakia. Before becoming president, he was Mayor (Slovak: primátor) of Košice in 1983–1986 and 1994–1999 respectively. He was also the last Communist president of the Slovak National Council (1989–1990), Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Canada (1990–1992) and a leader of the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia, 1998–1999).

He speaks Slovak, Czech, German (including Mantak dialect), Russian, English, and Hungarian fluently.

Schuster's father's family is of Carpathian German origin, while his mother's family is of Hungarian origin. Rudolf Schuster was married in 1961 to Irena Trojáková (died 2008) and he has two children (son Peter and daughter Ingrid) and two granddaughters. In his private life, he is a sports fan, a traveller and a writer. He is also a camera fan.

In 1998 he founded the centre-left Party of Civic Understanding (SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia).

In 1999 he received honorary citizenship from Miskolc, as recognition of the good cooperation between the city and Košice during his mayorship.[3]

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (left) meets with President of Slovakia Rudolf Schuster (right) at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava on 22 November 2002.

In 2004, Schuster sought re-election in the 2004 presidential election and received 7.4% of the votes.

Honours and awards

National

Foreign

See also

References
  1. "Schuster gone for good? - spectator.sme.sk". 21 June 2004.
  2. Roger East, Richard Thomas (2003). Profiles of People in Power: the world's government leaders. Routledge (UK). ISBN 1-85743-126-X.
  3. Honorary citizens on the official homepage of Miskolc Archived 23 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Prezidentka Slovenskej republiky | Vyznamenania".
  5. Quirinale website
  6. Boletín Oficial del Estado
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